


A Parent's Gift

by R_A_McCaffrey



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Magic, R Plus L Equals J
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:42:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25649005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_A_McCaffrey/pseuds/R_A_McCaffrey
Summary: Lord Stark swore to his sister that he would protect her son, and that when he was of age he would tell the boy the truth. When Jon starts planning to go to the Wall Lord Stark gives in, giving the one keepsake he has for Jon from his parents to him. A powerful keepsake enchanted by Warlocks from Qarth and a Witch from beyond the Wall itself.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 18





	1. Intro: The gift of the Game

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone enjoys this story, and remembers that I own nothing so far in any of the universes I dip into for this story.  
> Two important things: 1 I will be using the ages from the show not the books because it makes my story progress better even if I will be using more characters and theories from the books. 2) Sometimes there are things that seem wrong or appear incorrect however that does not mean I am wrong. That means the person speaking does not know the correct information.

**Intro: The Gift of the Game**

Catelyn Stark had not been expecting to be summoned to her husband's solar this late at night. The both of them were already wearing themselves thin with the work required to get everything ready for when the King arrives. It might not be for a few weeks still but they needed everything to be perfect for the arrival of King Robert Baratheon the First of his name, which created ever so much work to do on top of everything that they normally had to manage between The North, Their Lands, Winterfell itself and their family. So while she was luckier then most Ladies in Westeros in that she loved her husband, being summoned to talk to her husband when she was just getting ready to retire for the night was most annoying.

As she pushed open the door while her escort, Ser Jory, took up the post outside at the entrance of the small hall before the door, the first thing she noted was that her husband sitting in his chair hunched over while staring intently at a engraved iron pendent resting on his desk. The flickering torch light added a dark and mournful feel to her husband's solar. He didn’t even look up from the pendant when she entered just merely grunted, “Close the door Cat.”

He trailed off as he briefly looked up at her locking eyes for but a moment before he looked back down at the pendant in front of him, and within her mind she cursed him for why he had clearly called her here. She would never let such language pass her lips even if she desperately wished to, as her husband gave her that beseeching look reserved only for when he wished to discuss the _bastard._ It was never often that he would discuss the _bastard_ , with her but every time he did, he asked to be allowed to give more to the _bastard._ It was not like her answer meant anything though, he would do what he wished for the _bastard_ regardless of her opinion. That the _bastard_ be raised in Winterfell, that the _bastard_ be trained with weapons along side Robb, that the _bastard_ attend Robb's Lessons with Maester Luwin, even the birth of their second son had not stopped the _bastard_ from attending the lessons above his station. Well it was at an end, she was a daughter of a Great House and wife of another she would not be shamed as such again and she proved her point by shut the door loudly behind her.

As she sat across from her husband she was able to get a closer look at the pendant laying on the desk that had captured her husband's attention so. It was clearly wrought iron shaped in a simple circle on a strap of old leather. Though for all it's readily apparent age it had no visible rust so either the pendant was new and her husband had just used a strap that was old or her husband had kept meticulous care of the pendant. She knew which was more likely, though she focused on the design in the pendant itself, as the details put into the Weirwood tree were artistically done well beyond anything her own son had ever received from her husband. She pushed down the rage and jealousy that bubbled up within her at that injustice. She could even make out the lines in the face on the small tree though she had never seen such an expression on a Weirwood. 

“What is it you wished to talk about husband?”

Her husband leaned back in his chair as he looked away from the pendant and started to stare at a large tapestry of Westeros on the wall. It took him a moment to collect himself before he started speaking, “Cat I need you to swear the Gods, both the Old and the New, that nothing we talk about tonight with ever be spoken of to anyone that does not already know while you are in a safe place you can not be overheard.”

Her lips thinned at the unwelcome request, her husband had never asked such of her their entire marriage and that he was now about that _bastard_ was…

She did nothing to keep the anger from her tone with her clipped reply, “Why?”

Ned’s eyes met hers for the second time, and this time she could easily see the grief welling up in them. See such emotion in the eyes of her normally so stoic husband, hit her like a battering ram. She had always known that there had been another woman in Ned's heart, it was a fact that gnawed at the back her mind constantly. She had even once been sent away from her husbands solar as he all but growled at her to get out when she demanded to know who it was, at the time the pain had been fresh raw and they did not talk for days after their fight. However, to know that her husband still cared for the mother of the _bastard_ in such a way even after all these years with her, that hurt more then she expected.

It was sudden when he spoke and she was glad he measured his words as he spoke as it gave her time to rein in her wandering mind, “Because… because there is a truth that other then myself only Lord Howland Reed knows and I wished it could stay that way I truly do... However, current matters are forcing my hand Cat. You know the true reason why Robert rides north, he will ask my to be his Hand now that Lord Arryn had died. I need this done before before I can leave, I can not go South without him knowing, I swore an oath to his mother before she died.”

That brought her up short, and she felt ashamed with herself that hearing about the death of the _bastard's_ mother had filled her with even a momentary a sense of relief. With that shame came jealousy as fleeting memories of the Lady Ashara Dayne dancing with both Brandon and Ned at the Tourney of Harrenhal filled her mind. Though those thought left just as quickly, for as much as Ned had never told her the _bastard's_ mother, he had never lied to her, and despite how wroth he had been when she demanded to know if the _bastard_ was a Dayne he had denied it. She was willing to agree to almost anything to find out who the _bastard's_ mother was though.

“I Swear on the old gods and the new that nothing you tell me will ever be spoken by me outside this room.”

Ned nodded slowly as if he was judging the truth of her words, “I know this will not be easy to hear Cat but it is a long story and… Please just let me finish with what I need to say. I know I have asked you to endure many hardships taking Jon in and letting him be raised beside our own, but he is thinking about joining the Wall now and he can’t. There is more for him then to become part of the Night’s Watch.”

She could not help but interrupt, “Jon would be with his Uncle there, your brother would look after him and many men of similar birth make good names for themselves at the Wall.”

Ned shot her a pleading look that stopped her cold, “Cat... “

He heaved a heavy sigh, “I swore two oaths when I took him. That I would keep him safe from all who would threaten him, and that I would give him a gift that had been made for him. I can not give him this without telling him the truth, and you need to know as well. I will be going south with Robert, at least one person in Winterfell other then Jon must know the truth.”

Her Husband picked up the pendant, and for a second before it rested in the palm of his hand she was the back was engraved as well though she could not tell the design upon it, “Seventeen years ago I returned from the south with Jon and you met me at the door of the keep brimming with anger.”

She bristled with anger at that description, it was as if he meant to say her anger was not justified. He held up his hand to cut off her interruption, “I should have known that word would be passed to you before I arrived home. The Riverlands are held by your family and there were too many that would have warned you of what I was bringing to Winterfell. If I had been smart I would have sailed to White Harbor from King's Landing or if I was not so convinced that I was the only one that could do anything I could have sent Lord Reed on to travel North ahead of me with the child and his nurse maid. There was nothing I could do when I arrived and I was faced with the truth that you already knew, and that others knew you were furious about Jon's existence. It was a circumstance that I had not expected and there was nothing I could do that did not risk the truth coming to light. You had to stay angry at me and Jon. And while I had planned to lie to the world I now had to lie to my wife as well, something I had not planned for.”

That left her confused and made absolutely no sense, what was Ned even talking about now, for it sounded as if he was saying Jon was not his son. That made no sense though, to her constant dismay, you only had to take one look at the boy and you could tell he had Stark Blood running through his veins. 

Take the leather strap of the pendant in his hand Ned held it out so that the pendant dropped and she would see it as it dangled Weirwood engraving towards her as it slowly started to turn. “If you had known the truth, if I had told you, the way you reacted to Jon would have changed so dramatically people would have noticed and I could not let that happen. No one could know. If Robert had caught even a whiff of who Jon was he would have killed the babe just like the rest during the war.”

Her eyes were locked onto the pendant as it slowly spun and she could get a good look at the Weirwood's face now. She remembered seeing the side facing her vaguely and like a bolt of lightning in a summer storm she remembered hearing about the story from her first betrothed Brandon, Ned’s elder brother. The story about the Knight of the Laughing Tree, and how it had been his little sister Lyanna that had defeated the other Knights at the tourney of Harrenhal. But Ned would never have had a son with his sister, besides Lyanna had been taken by... 

Her horrifying musings were cut short as the other side of the pendant was finally becoming visible just when Ned started talking again, “Jon is old enough now and… and I have to think that he has been raised well enough to be told the truth about who he is without putting our family at risk. I know you might never forgive me for making you deal with the shame I forced upon you to protect my nephew but...”

She stared at the three headed dragon on the pendant and noting absentmindedly that there was a harp overlapping the claws of the dragon unlike the actual symbol of the Targaryens as her mouth went dry. There was so many questions she wanted to ask. Why save the son of the man that raped your sister? How could you endanger your family in such a way bring him here? What did you have planned for the boy if you didn't want him to pledge to the watch?

Yet at the same time there was an odd feeling knowing that a son of the Targaryen Prince had survived. She could remember the insults that the captured Loyalist Lords of the Riverlands had made when brought to Riverrun. How the treacherous Tulley's had betrayed the Targaryens just as they had been the first to join with the Targaryen's against Haren the Black. 

“He’s the son of…”

She didn’t know what to think about this. It was... It was too much to think about now. Too many different emotions were stirred by old memories. Anger at not being told, rage at the fact this boy lived while the whole realm had bleed, confusion at why her husband had saved the child of his sisters rapist, pride that in some way she had helped the last member of the house that had raised the Tullys to Lord Paramount, and shame at how she had treated the boy who was not her husband's bastard but her nephew and therefore family. She had something she wanted to say however before she left to deal with her thoughts, “Tomorrow. You will tell him tomorrow. You will tell both him and Robb tomorrow.”

“Cat-”

She shot him a warning look more final then any Ned had used this night, “No. You said it yourself, it is likely that King Robert will make you his Hand, that means that Robb will be acting Lord of Winterfell he will be told what we are talking about. In the case that he ever needs to know such truths.”

He husband sighed in defeat as she pushed her chair back and started striding purposefully to their room hoping to be asleep long before her husband came to bed. She did not want to see him again tonight.

* * *

Rob slowly lowered himself into the seat between Jon and his mother in his father’s solar. This morning had been most odd.

First his mother had personally set an extra place at the head table for Jon, something that Arya had done more than once before though Jon had never been allowed to sit with them when Arya did so. Then she had herded everyone out of Breakfast early. Arya and Sansa to Septa Mordane's lessons despite Arya's heavy protests and questions about why Jon was allowed to sit with them now. Rickon was sent back with a nursemaid to his nursery likely to get cleaned of the porridge that ended up more on him then in his mouth. Bran and Theon were sent to practice under Ser Rodrick, like usual but without him or Jon. That was all fairly normal but it was odd that _both_ he and Jon had to meet with their father especially alongside his mother rather then go to the training yard with Bran and Theon.

Odder still that his father did not seem please that his mother this morning though why exactly that was he could not tell, as he knew that his father wished his mother would treat Jon better. Though his thoughts were interrupted when his father finally spoke, “Cat… This morning. This is exactly why I never told you the truth before, and now with-”

“No.”

His eyes swung to his mother, he had never heard her so firmly refuse his father ever. Yes, he knew she had refused him just as she had refused all her children things they wanted, but even when she had disagreed strongly before now she had always hidden it until no one else was around he assumed, “Things will change and if anyone asks it will be because the king is coming and we wish for no embarrassment. I will hear no more of it.”

His mother turned to them and he could see a steely set in her eyes he was not used to seeing, “Both of you are to swear that you will not talk about any part of this meeting to anyone but those in this room and only when you are absolutely sure no one can overhear. Is that understood?”

He heard Jon swear by the old gods and the new only moments before him.

It was his father that spoke first after their oaths though only after he let out a long suffering sigh, “It... It is time for you to know the truth Jon. Your mother felt despite my wish to spare you this burden that it would be best if you knew as well Robb. The story of your parentage Jon started many years ago at The Tourney of Harrenhal.” 

* * *

A woman of ethereal beauty walked out of the mist towards him. Her flowing brown hair cascading down from a wreath of bright blue roses that matched the color flowing sky blue dress she wore as if Sansa had chosen then color. Her striking grey eyes seemed to stare into his soul, and he knew who it was as soon as she entered his dream, for there was nothing else this could be.

“Mother”

The word slipped from his tongue without thought or intent and yet while he knew it in heart to be true it felt wrong foreign for some reason he could not place.

She just smiled gently at him a drop of sadness filling her eyes as she did so, “You are older than I was when I died my son. We had hoped that you would wear your pendant long before this, I guess it was foolish to hope that my brother would have given it to you as a child. He always was too cautious about things, the quiet wolf they called him for he thought and planned unlike myself and Brandon.”

She seemed so alive yet not, and so different then he had ever expected of either his mother or Lyanna Stark when he thought her his Aunt, and dream or not he had so many things he wanted to ask, but before he could give voice to any of them another figure strode out of the mist. His long vivid white hair flowing over his ruby encrusted armor and resting against the etched silver edges of his breastplate.

“It’s not the life I wanted any of my children to have but you have done better than many would have with the cards you have been dealt son.”

His tongue stuck as this man, his father, walked calmly up to the woman he abducted and pulled her to him. He wanted to say something but she looked so happy. All of the stories he had heard from before, and even Lord Stark couldn’t tell him what had passed between these two before his birth…

His mother seemed to sense his indecision, “I ran away with him to the Tower of Joy. We were even married by a Southerner. His name was…”

“Maynard.”

His mother smiled up at the Prince, “Yes that was his name. And then we had that pendant made before you were even born. Iron cooled in our blood, expertly engraved, and heavily enchanted by the Warlocks of Qarth, as well as a powerful Witch born north of the Wall. It was made to keep you safe if anything should happen to us. The Witch even said that with the power it had it would have a mind of it’s own one day.”

She only managed to finish speaking before everything disappeared leaving him surrounded by darkness until the words appeared in front of him:

**The Game Of Thrones**

_Character Creation_


	2. What Makes a Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoys this story, and remembers that I own nothing so far in any of the universes I dip into for this story.  
> Before we start Two things. Just to warn everyone while this will be a gamer fic, it will not be what most are expecting. Think more Old school pen and paper D&D then modern video games. Second, there are a lot of things people add that I normally find self explanatory in the ‘character creation’ of gamer stories, so I will only be briefly touching on them. I don’t see the need to explain the meaning of words like Strength, wisdom, Long Sword[skill], etc when I could be focusing on things like the ‘rules’ and game parameters… if you haven’t played enough games that you have a good idea what those mean this is probably not a story for you.

Chapter 1: What Makes a Man

Jon could only stare at the floating parchment hanging in front of him as he had done these last four nights. Each night was the same with this waking dream he did not understand, but made him wonder if with the knowledge of his father if he was going mad as so many Taragryen's have before him. His dreads were only made worse by the fact that he had not even dreamed of his parents past that dream the first night. This... This was magic or madness unlike anything he had ever heard of before, nothing like anything mentioned in Old Nan's tales. The first message about 'The Game of Thrones' would disappear almost instantly after he appeared here each night after falling asleep only to quickly be replaced with an ancient looking scroll hanging in this colorless void that surrounded him.

The scroll hanging before him was huge. So big that even though it was split in half, the left half had a full body portrait of him in his night clothes, he had even tested it tonight and went to bed without a nightshirt and neither he nor his portrait was wearing on. It was most odd. The right half had a much more elegant script then he could produce a short description of himself and how he looked as well as the names of his parents but it was what was beneath his parents' names that gave him pause each night.

**Mother: Lyanna Stark**

**Stark Traits: +1 Str, +2 Vit, -2 Cha**

**(Choose Two of the following Family Traits[ Warg, Greenseer, Pack Empathy, Cold Endurance])**

**Father: Rhaegar Targaryen**

**Targaryen Traits: +3 Charisma, -1 Int, -1 Wis**

**(Choose Two of the following Family Traits [ Prophetic Dreams, Fire and Blood, Flamewalker, Destiny Dancer])**

He couldn’t even begin to understand what it meant by choice as there was no way he could choose what he was...right? It terrified him to even think of making a decision, as that felt like he would be giving into what he was sure was Targaryen madness. But still a part of him wanted to know what the words meant.

“Are you ever going to make a decision?”

He spun at the unexpected and grating voice from right behind him, and went as still as a statue mid spin when he saw what had been behind him. There was a short shriveled and hunched over manlike creature, with sharp dark red talons on it's fingers, barely taller than his waist, with skin the color of rust, hair as white as a Weirwood, and eyes that shimmered like the moon on water..

“What are you?”

He almost slapped himself as the words tumbled from his mouth before he could think, that was something Arya would have said. The instant response of a child not the thought out response of an almost grown man.

The thing chuckled darkly in response, “What am I? That is an interesting question boy. A question that makes time ever so essential. What I am now is nothing, merely a remnant of my power that was left in your pendant. Your parents, your father especially went to extreme lengths to have it crafted and enchanted to protect you. They even asked for help from the Greenman on the Isle of faces, though neither knew his name. I came into being because of that request, the Greenman called for a witch from north of the wall to come and enchant your pendant, or at least that was what your parents were told. Tell me boy have you ever heard stories of the Children of the Forest?”

They had been frequently mentioned in Old Nan's tales, and yet he could not believe it, “You’re…”

It just smiled at him and as gentle as the smile appeared it did not match the withered creature's appearance or it's dark and grating voice and caused a shiver to run down his spine, “Are you still surprised by magic at this point boy?”

“But you look nothing like Old Nan's Stories!”

He was well used to identifying when someone was being condescending and thought that he was beneath them in some way and it was easy to hear that condescension in the thing's chuckle that followed, “Of course not boy, Have you not been listening. I’m not a Child of the Forest. I am… I am the enchantment on your pendant given life, so strong was the magic placed on it. I was placed on this pendant to assist you and to do that you will need to start making choices.”

He looked back at the scroll for a moment before turning back towards the thing in front of him, “But how do I choose, I can’t change what I am?” He tried to make himself sound as sure as he wanted to be, for a part of him was still convinced that this was the Targaryen madness.. And yet it came out more a question all the same.

A gentle shake of it’s head, “No boy you can not but the pendant can.”

He looked at the scroll again and his voice caught in his throat at his question, “My mother was she...”

“I have already informed you I am merely the magic that enchants your pendant, I do not know what skills your mother had in life. I am aware that your father believed that he did have prophetic dreams, it is one of the reasons he had me created. Whether that is true or false I do not know. Though if true those dreams did not help him in the end."

That left a sinking feeling in his gut, and he quickly vowed to himself that he would not be 'picking' prophetic dreams for Targaryen at least. That did however highlight another problem, "But how can I pick when I don't even know what they mean?"

"Reach out and touch one boy and then you will understand."

Shooting an odd look at the misshapen thing he turned back to the floating scroll and touched the first 'choice', and instantly the parchment started to twist and flow until it formed a smaller scroll.

**[Warg]**

**Like the Ancient Kings of the North your mind has the will of a beast, allowing you to slip your skin and take control of animals. Seeing through their eyes and controlling their bodies while your's lays abandoned.**

**Confirm {Yes/No}**

For a moment all he could think about was Old Nan's tales of the Kings of Winter and how they could 'skinchange' and the tales of how The Red Kings that later became the Boltons would kill and skin the Starks of old in the hopes of gaining that power for themselves. Then his thoughts went to wondering if any of his siblin- cousins could warg. While he tried to think of what would happen if Sansa found herself in the mind of an animal, one last thought occurred to him. It said Kings of the North not just Kings of Winter, did that mean that there was other families in the North that had this skill?

He pushed those thoughts aside for now though, such thoughts would not get him anywhere right now.  **[Warg]** was an interesting choice, though he hesitantly went and touched the  **{No}** , he had only two choices and three other options to look at he thought. Instantly the scroll reformed into its early shape and writing.

Without stopping he went and touched the next option.

**[Greenseer]**

**Her blood pumps through your veins like it does with all though who have Stark Blood. Her blood gives you a connection to the Weirwoods and the old Gods and the power of children, letting you see where others can not, swim through time and funnel the elements. Beware as with great power there always comes a cost.**

**{Yes/No}**

That one was terrifying. It even came with a warning...

No. No, he had lost too much already. He had lost family twice over, once to death and once to truth, he had lost himself as well. No, there was no more he was going to lose for power.

He quickly went back before clicking on the next choice.

**[Cold Endurance]**

**Due to your Northern Blood you have a deep connection with winter and are less affected by the cold and snow than others. Though you do find the south warmer then you would like.**

**Confirm {Yes/No}**

That took a moment to think about that choice. However, with Lord Starks' decision that he was not allowed to join the Night's Watch he would not be going North. The weather of Winterfell never bothered him and... well if he couldn't go North maybe he could go south. There were places there like Summerhall, the Tower of Joy... And if he were to go south well he wouldn't really need to not be bothered by winter right? He already was from the North and the cold didn't really bother him to begin with.

Quickly going back and picking his last choice he smiled.

**[Pack Empathy]**

**During the time of the First Man the Ancestors of the Starks bonded with Direwolves with the help of their own magics. This Bond became a part of their legacy, and while the Starks no longer have Direwolf companions they still carry some of the traits of their ancient companions as well as can instinctively connect with such creatures.**

**Confirm {Yes/No}**

That sounded both very much something that fit a Stark, as well as that it would fit very well with  **[Warg]** the idea of being able to control a wolf and send it into combat sounded like something out of legend. He Quickly made up his mind and touched {Yes} for the first time. It went back to the original scroll and for a second he thought that nothing had happened till he noticed that  **[Pack Empathy]** had turned red.

He touched the word **[Warg]** again and then just a quickly confirmed that choice as well and when it went back to the first scroll now under his mother’s name it read:

**Stark Traits: +1 Str, +2 Vit, -2 Cha, Pack Empathy, Warg**

He shot another look behind him at the thing.

“You have decided on half of what you are at this point boy. It is best you hurry up as we have more important things to get to tonight.”

He was curious about what that meant but figured he would find out and he could just tell that it wouldn’t answer that question anyway. In fact the thing or 'enchantment' sort of sounded like Theon in that regard.

Reaching out he hit the second Targaryen option, if his father had had prophetic dreams then he wanted nothing to do with them especially if they had had anything to do with what happened with taking his mother and abandoning Rhaegar's Trueborn children

The scroll’s writing shifted again.

**[Fire and Blood]**

**Both came from Valyria centuries before the doom, and they have been tied together ever since; the Targaryens and the Dragons. The bond is not fully understood but some say that the blood of dragons flows through the bodies of the Targaryens and that this connection gives them the strength of a dragon as well as the ability to control them.**

**Confirm {Yes/No}**

He had picked every choice for the Stark side of him without addressing the thing behind him, but he realized that he needed something answered before he could make a choice here.

“What use is that? The Dragons are all gone, they died out generations ago.”

“Just like the Children of the forest did boy?”

He stopped himself from responding and half turned to stare at the thing behind him. That was true… If nothing else none of this should be possible yet here all of this was, magic was clearly real so why couldn’t Dragons still be real…

“Will I ever meet one?”

*Snort* “Your father believed he saw bits and pieces of the future but I know I can not.”

Well then he would have to consider that one, a connection to Dragons if they existed would be interesting, and the strength of Dragons was an interesting thought though he had no idea what that meant. For now he went to the next option just to check, he refused to take prophetic dreams but that still left two other options that he had to pick from.

**[Flamewalker]**

**There have been a few Targaryens that like dragons have been creatures of flames themselves. They had the ability to walk through natural fire without a mark on them from the flames.**

**Confirm {Yes/No}**

Well that was a definite yes. Unable to be burned, that sounded like something that could be really useful. Everything from handling a burning torch, or working with a small campfire to dealing with burning oil during a siege would be something that did not have to worry him.

Quickly confirming his choice he moved to look at the last option and pick his last ‘trait’ either  **[Fire and Blood]** or  **[Destiny Dancer]** as of yet he did not know.

**[Destiny Dancer]**

**They say that every time a Targaryen is born the gods flip a coin. However there is strength in madness. While you revel in the flame consuming your mind your physical abilities become far greater the more your mind decays.**

**Confirm {Yes/No}**

Swallowing the bile that rose in his throat at what that meant he quickly made his decision going back to  **[Fire and Blood]** as his final choice. It took him a moment though as he tried to shake the image of a decrepit old man with disgusting long white hair falling over his face cackling on a throne of swords that form in his mind as he read the description of [Destiny Dancer]. When he clicked yes the scroll changed again and had an entirely new set of writing, beneath parent names, their houses and those houses traits were a bunch of letters that formed no words he knew followed by pairs of numbers.

From behind him the Thing said, “Good now let me explain your status to you.”

* * *

Catelyn Stark lay in bed unable to fall asleep after the conversation she had right before she had come to bed. Robb had searched her out after all of his siblings had gone to sleep so that they could talk privately about the bas- about Jon.

Robb was concerned because Jon had been more distant since they had learned the truth from Ned. Robb explained that Jon still did everything he did before; spend time with Anya, hunt with Robb and Theon, riding, playing with Rickon and Bran, training under Sir Roderick, but Robb said there was a distance there now as if Jon just was not really there and was simple going through the actions.

She had tried to explain that Jon was coming to grips with who he is and what that means for him while trying to figure out what he should do with his life now that he knew the truth of his birth.

Robb had not wanted to hear anything she had to say though, he had only wanted things to go back to how they had been. It was a childlike fantasy coming from her grown son with his seven and ten years, or so she thought.

She had not been prepared for what her son had said before he had left her quietly storming off to his room, “Nothing about Jon changed. All that changed is who his parents are, he is still my brother just like Theon, and Bran and Rickon. He is still family and always has been.”

He hadn’t needed to say what she knew should have followed as it was implied. She had raised all of her children with the lessons she had learned as a child especially those about her family’s words… “Family, Duty, Honor.”

* * *

It was at this point where Jon was starting to believe that this may actually be magic, as while it could be madness he did not believe that he could think this up mad or not.

Shaking his head he took a good hard look at the letters and numbers that had appeared again before he responded to what the thing behind him had just explained to him. He thought he understood the basis of the explanation at least he hoped he did. He understood what the letters meant at least. He knew the numbers next to them represented where he stood with 0 as the lowest and 20 as the best, and the average score people had was somewhere around 8-11.

What he did not understand was how he was supposed to increase those scores, or at least he did not understand the Things's explanation of how he was to increase his scores. He started off with ‘points’ he could use to increase them right now. Later on he could get more ‘points’ from completing missions or quests, leveling up, and earning achievements… The problem was that the thing had not explained what those were or anything. In the end despite how much he had listened he still ended up feeling like he knew nothing which was the first reason he was about to do what he had planned. Taking one more look at his ‘stats’ before he used his available points he felt he should ask one last time just to make sure.

**Stats**

**Strength 12**

**Agility 11**

**Vitality 13**

**Intelligence 10**

**Wisdom 10**

**Charisma 12**

**Luck 12**

**Available points (5)**

“Can't you explain how I can get more points again?”

There was an annoyed sigh from behind him much like Maester Luwin when he couldn’t understand something during Maester Luwin's third explanation, “As I told you, you will get one point to use every five levels, you also can get points from special quests, missions and achievements though those will usually be for different stats and you won’t get to pick were those points go they will just be added to the appropriate stat. I could explain more of what I mean when we get to that point. I assure you, by the end of the night you will understand.” 

He nodded in response, he might not know what that meant but all he cared about was that there would be more of these points available. He knew he would need those points in Strength, Agility, and Vitality if he wanted to become a strong fighter, but the House traits had left a bad feeling in him. More particularly  **[Destiny Dancer]** that even if he did not pick he was worried would come back to haunt him later anyway.

Thus he made his decision and divided up his points where he at least thought he needed them.

**Stats**

**Strength 13**

**Agility 11**

**Vitality 13**

**Intelligence 12**

**Wisdom 12**

**Charisma 12**

**Luck 12**

“Interesting choices to start with.”

He didn’t even turn around to look at the thing he could hear the smirk in its voice, “I won’t become like them. I won’t become like the Mad King.”

“Indeed.”

He couldn’t tell exactly what the tone of voice meant, though he could tell the smirk was gone.

Just then the scroll before him disappeared and five more appeared with words at the top labeling them  **[Combat] [Crafting] [Thief] [Animal] [Other]** .

“Good. Now boy we will talk about what skills you have.”

* * *

She had been making her way towards the land of the uncomfortable warmth for many moons now. The cold death was coming and she had to think of her pups, they had to be safe. Some ancient instinct she could not place pulled her towards the warmer lands, the ones not yet blanketed in snow.

So she had traveled until she had made it to the towering ice and then she had stopped, unsure of what to do. There had been no way she could climb ice so high, and so she had tried to find a way around the towering ice while avoiding the large two legged beasts with their sharp arms. She had eventually swam around the towering ice, avoiding the large number of two legged beasts there and their floating tree creatures they stood upon.

Upon reaching land after passing the tower ice she had continued following the pull and had started to head more in the direction of the disappearing orb that lit everything. 

Now though she was in a deep wood and approaching where she knew she needed to be though she knew she would not make it as she was. Her pups were coming and she would need to look after them before they could finish her journey. The towering ice had delayed her too long. Though with how warm it was behind the towering ice and with the amount of prey roaming around this forest would be a good place for her pups to grow even larger than her or their father.

* * *

He thought he understood the basis of how these skills worked, or at least how what they were and how many he could start with. It was everything after this that confused him. Mostly because the thing had explained that each skill type had its own way of progressing, but had not gone very in depth about how each type was different.

They had started with the  **[Combat]** skills. The **[Combat]** skills were divided into two sets,  **[Weapons]** and  **[Styles]** .  **[Weapon]** skills could gain up to five levels and  **[Styles]** could gain up to two. He started with five points in  **[Weapons]** and two points in  **[Styles]** to start, and like when discussing his stats the thing had said that he would gain more by leveling, mission, quests, achievements, and in addition this time ny Trainers… While still not explaining any of what that meant, and he was really starting to feel like this was important stuff he was not having explained, he figured he could guess some of it but ... 

He could use any weapon in any way he wanted from what he understood but the skills level he picked showed how skilled he was with a weapon so he was better with a weapon he had at least one level in them then one with none. 

He had of course decided to put his ‘points’ in what he knew what he had been trained to use so far so as to not draw any attention or questions. Besides some of the weapons he saw listed he had never even heard of like, an arakh, or a glaive. Thus he had gone the simple route:

**[Combat]**

**[Weapons]**

**Long Sword ✮**

**Bastard Sword ✮✮**

**Bow ✮**

**Spear ✮**

**[Styles]**

**Two Handed Fighting ✮**

**Sword and Shield✮**

The second set of skills had been the most confusing of all of them. Similar to the  **[Combat]** skills the  **[Crafting]** skills also were divided into two types. They also had a set number for either type that he would know now, and he could learn more later from quests, missions, achievements, and trainers but he could not level this skill set. Though there was no leveling or any such thing for these skills of either type. The thing had explained that he could still 'grow' the skills just not with levels. The first type was labeled **[Resource]** while the second was labeled  **[Creation]** .

Which was the first step in the confusion, if he picked anything in the  **[Resource]** section he would automatically just know what to look for that resource supposedly. He would have to actively be looking to use the skill but the example the thing had used was that if he chose herblore from the list and he was wandering the woods and looking for herb he would be able to identify and safely gather any herb or plant he found. That was something people spent their entire life working to learn and he would just know it without trying. It just seemed wrong. 

Then there was the **[Creation]** section which was confusing as well. First, like the  **[Resource]** if he picked a skill he would just know what to do. However he could only make things that he had recipes of schematics for. Which he was told he could find in many ways, the thing even said that he could find them by reading books.

In the end he had a hard time picking what he would go with since he only had three choices for each set of [Crafting] skills and what seemed like hundreds of options for each type. In the end he had thought over what he was going to do now. He had planned to go to the wall but his fath- Uncle had said that he could not do that because he was supposed to do something with his life, be more than that. This magic though, could let him become truly powerful and skilled… He had thought that maybe he could convince his Uncle to let him travel south and work on becoming a landed knight. So he had picked skills that he knew he knew that would help him in that regard.

**[Crafting]**

**[Resource]**

**Hunting**

**Farming**

**Mining**

**[Creation]**

**Cooking**

**Smithing**

**Leatherworking**

The thing had said that he would have at least a few recipes for each  **[Creation]** skill though he would not learn what just yet.

The third skill set had bothered him when he had seen the name of the skill set, seeing as he could not think of any good reason he would need to know any  **[Thief]** skills. To which the thing had only laughed and said that he would be happy to have them when he looked at them. The thing had then explained that he was to pick three of them in order of which he thought was most important to him. He would have those three skills only until he found a Trainer that could teach him other skills. The thing had also explained that the  **[Thief]** skills did not have levels themselves; they were skills set up that if he gained the skills each time he gained a level they would go up by 5 until they reached 100. While he was not amazing with his sums he had thought that meant he would be unable to fail. However, the thing had only laughed in a weird way when he had said that, which made him doubt that thought.

He had bit his lip when he had seen the options and realized that it covered a bit more than he thought they would, and some had even been useful in ways that had nothing to do with thievery. The total list included Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, Pickpocket, Sleight of Hand, Open Lock, Find Trap, and Backstab. He had instantly dismissed Backstab as well as Pickpocket because of how dishonorable those skills were. At the same time he had quickly picked Hide in Shadows, and Move Silently as the first and second choices because of how many times he had used those skills already to avoid people in his life. That had left him with the third choice andhe had debated which would be the most useful to him going forward. He could not see himself using Sleight of Hand, and he could not think of a place where Open Lock would be necessary unless he was trying to sneak in somewhere, Find Trap though could be useful if nothing else he had seen snares out before and from what the Thing had said that skill covered snares as well as well as traps.

**[Thief]**

**Hide in Shadows 35**

**Move Silently 25**

**Find Trap 10**

With that out of the way he had moved on to the **[Animal]** skills, and he had been slightly relieved when it was revealed to him by the Thing what this skill set meant. It covered the raising, caring for, for and training of different animals that he picked.

There was simply a list of animals that he was to choose from. He could pick three now and would get to pick more later according to the Thing in the ‘usual’ way: leveling, quests, missions etc. However two of his three choices were already picked from earlier, so he already had Wolf and Dragon chosen and only got to pick one more choice. The choice had been a simple one despite how many cool animals were named. He might only be passingly skilled as a rider but his mother according to stories he had heard had been amazing so had quickly picked Horse.

**[Animal]**

**Dragon**

**Wolf**

**Horse**

That had brought him to the final skill page simply labeled  **[Other]** and he was surprised when the thing had explained what each skill was and how they were measured out of 100 like the  **[Thief]** skills. It was then explained that these skills were not picked; they were simply skills that he would learn and that they could be found as he moved forward in life. He would just gain them as he experienced them and would gain experience with them when using them.

**[Other]**

**Speech 20**

**Riding 20**

**Gambling 5**

**Celestial Navigation 15**

**Appraise 10**

**Finances 10**

**Cartography 10**

**Music 15**

Taking one last look at the list of  **[Other]** skills he touched the yes in Skills Approved  **{Yes/No}** . 

The scrolls then disappeared after he had touched that final choice and all the scrolls suppressed into one as a massive pile of scrolls appeared floating in front of him.

“You will find as you proceed that there are a few more skill sets. They are just not listed yet boy.”

He shot a look at the Thing and frowned at that, why would they leave out skill sets, before shaking his head. Clearly he didn’t have any skills in those sets though he could not think of what sets of skills he did not have.

“Now then I can finally start explaining how your life will be from now on boy. Let’s see if we can make this move faster. As you can see everything before you is as organized as it will ever be.”

He gulped there was more scrolls here then he had learned from Maester Luwin his entire life... 

* * *

The frustration built as she stared into the flickering flames. It had been weeks since she had been able to see anything and her Prince was getting frustrated with her failures. She had been close to lying to him this morning, but she knew she was where she was supposed to be, her Lord would provide her with answers if she was certain. Then there was a small movement in the flames before a rush of images so much faster then she could control.

There was a large lizard leading a wolf by a lake.

A giant pulling a sword from a tree.

A bear roaring in its cave.

A star crashing into a massive rock and forming a river of blood.

A stag swimming in wine as a beast tries to tear it apart.

A kitten and puppy sailing into a wall of white.

Dragons breaking from stone in a wave of fire.

A flaming rock being swallowed by waves.

Then the world jolted and she staggered back as the images vanished and her raging fire sputtered and died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I figure I should start with this. I used to have a fanfiction.net account where I had a few stories... Then you know how life is and I just get away from writing. So I had not updated anything in the last few years, and I seemed to have reached a point in my life were I want to start writing again I took them down. I am working on fixing and polishing them up and will then be posting and continuing the stories. 2 Harry potter stories, 1 Code Geass, and 1 A song of fire and ice if anyone is interested in Betaing them.


	3. Chapter 2: How the World works

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoys this story, and remembers that I own nothing so far in any of the universes I dip into for this story.
> 
> I will be writing this story mostly from the perspective of Jon Snow, there will be sections every chapter that are not but the majority will be from Jon's perspective.

Chapter 2: How the world works

Staring at the large scrolls floating in front of him he tried to memorize what the Thing had said. He kind of understood the things it had said about the status scrolls. While he might not understand how the crafting ‘recipes’ work he knew they did as while when he laid down he didn't know how to make any of the things he had 'recipes' for now he did. However, these NPC scrolls he did not understand what they meant at all; it was just too much.

His level being 1 was a sore spot for him, especially after he found out others like Robb and Theon were higher in level. It had not helped when the thing had explained how he could raise that by gaining experience, which currently his experience total was 0/500. When he had asked how if they had been taking lessons basically together all their lives how Robb could be higher than him, the Thing had just chuckled and told him, "You were not you boy remember that.". It had also explained how experience was basically gained by doing things that used skills as well as Quests and Missions.

His Hit points were another point of confusion. After the Thing had explained how Hit Points were basically health it had not been any easier to grasp. First his Hit Points being 13 seemed low, and on top of that he didn’t really understand how your health could be explained in numbers. The Thing had been adamant about his Hit Points being absolute, as well as how every time he leveled up it would increase, so he had sworn to himself to start working on leveling up as soon as he woke up. That had been the only change to his status scroll which had everything he had just chosen on it as well.

After that he had gone through the second set of scrolls which had detailed the ‘recipes’ he knew. There had been almost three dozen cooking recipes, mostly different ways to cook eggs, fish, and meat from things he had killed or caught before. It did not surprise him much as most of those 'recipes' were ones he had made before when he had gone on hunts with his family and household guards. There had been three that stood out though; berry preserves which were simple and the 'recipe' did not change no matter what berry he was using, pork pie was unique as it required not just meats but vegetables and grains to make as well as and required baking in an oven, and lastly honey cakes the only dessert item on the list. Sadly he didn’t see himself making that last one often, but he figured there couldn’t be much difference between it and lemon cakes and if he could learn how to make those maybe he could bribe himself into Sansa’s good side like he had been when he was younger.

Smithing had over a dozen ‘recipes’ as well. Those were mostly things like nails, horseshoes, lanterns and other everyday objects. The only two exceptions were the ‘recipes’ for a simple thin dirk, as well as a ‘recipe’ for a long sword. The thing had explained that he could make them out of any metal except Valyrian Steel and Star Metal as it took special knowledge to work those metals, but he could use steel, iron, bronze or any such metal in his smithing 'recipes'.

Leatherworking had only provided the process of preserving skins into leather or furs, as well as how to make a warm fur cloak. 

His ability to follow the Thing's explanation and understand what was said had come crashing down when they had gotten to the NPC Scroll and the Factions Scroll.

There was just so much to see on each page. The NPC Scroll had a list of every person of importance he had met so far in his life, some like Lord Reed, Lord Jon Arryn and even King Robert Baratheon all who he did not even remember meeting as a babe. His excitement at finding this was dampened because the Thing could not explain what exactly made someone important. Then if he touched a name on the list it would change to a scroll about the person with an arrow pointing to the left at the top of the scroll to go back to the list. The big thing was that there was a picture of the person, a small summary of what he knew about them, and either one or two bars that the thing called the Reputation and Infatuation bars. Thankfully the second one only was only on girls that he knew but the thing had said he would encounter men with one as well if that was their preference. The bars were on different ranges; with Reputation ranging from -100 to 100, while Infatuation ranged from 0 to 100

However there was just so much that didn’t make sense with the scrolls he had looked at especially like the one he is looking at right now, or maybe it was less that he couldn’t make sense of the scroll and more he didn't want to understand...

**[Sansa Stark]**

There was a beautiful picture that could only be magic because it looked like she was there in the scroll and staring at him and not just a regular painting.

**Sansa is the eldest daughter of Lord Eddard Stark and Catelyn Stark nee Tully. She dreams of leaving Winterfell and traveling south to experience the world that she has heard so much about in the tales and songs she has heard her whole life. She wishes nothing more than to be the epitome of a Southern Lady, and finds the unrefined and unladylike actions of her sister Arya and many of ladies of the North (like the Lady's Mormont) disgusting. She wants to find a noble Knight to sweep her off her feet and take her away so that they can live happily ever after in a southern castle with better access to lemons and tournaments.**

**Reputation (-8)**

The Thing had tried to explain how the 'negative number' worked for reputation and it took a while before it got anywhere. He knew he was not the best at sums but he eventually understood once he started thinking about this as a sort of loan, where you owe back a certain amount before you could make money. The Thing had condescending explained he was mostly correct.

**Sansa does not want to associate with Jon. While when she was younger she liked to play with Jon and Robb she eventually found out that Jon was a Bastard and under the guidance of Septa Mordane she tried to make a distance between him and the ‘taint’ he could cast on her reputation in the future.**

**Infatuation (0)**

**Trainer: Tailoring, Tailoring recipes, Music (50), Dance (50)**

“Does she really hate me?”

He had tried to keep his voice from sounding pleading though he knew he failed as the Thing's answer began with a dismissive snort, “Having a reputation around zero is basically indifference for most people. Mind you that while these numbers portray a person’s general opinion of you, two people with the same score will not react to you the same way. Both reputation and the person in question affect the reaction. In this case, no she doesn’t hate you, she just doesn’t care enough about you to hate you.”

That hurt more than anything he had felt in a long time, even more than finding out who his parents truly were, and how Lord Stark was not his Father. He would rather her hate him, think him some kind of perverse reminder that hurts her mother. Anything that showed she felt something about him still, not caring at all was…

He angrily pushed the arrow to go back to the list and turned to the other scroll, “Explain this one to me now.”

There was a sigh before the thing spoke, “That is the Faction Scroll. As you can see from the map of westeros there it clearly shows the divisions between the true nine kingdoms of Westeros. A large section of land beyond the wall, as well as most of the kingdoms of Essos. Push on one and it will show you more.”

Without hesitation he put his finger on the North. The Map disappeared to reveal an interesting scroll labeled  **[The North]** at the top under that was another Reputation bar and a line of text labeled Impression, and underneath all of that was a list of all of the Houses in the North.

The part that got him was the Impression Line and Reputation Bar but before he could ask anything about them, the thing spoke, “The reputation for an area of Westeros such as The North, The Crownlands, Dorne, or the Land beyond the Wall is influenced by the reputation of all of the houses or clans within that area of land. In short you can not gain reputation for The North as a whole, you gain reputation with the Houses of the North and overall it raises the Reputation of the North. While in Areas like Pentos and Qarth where there are different forms of government the reputation is gained the same way you would gain reputation for people or a House in Westeros. In most areas your reputation is zero or you are only known as Lord Stark’s bastard. So while not positive it's not that any Kingdom hates you. In the North you have a positive enough reputation with some houses so that your reputation over all in the North is 27. Reputation for an Area is measured from -3000/3000. The Impression Bar keeps tabs of what you are most known for in that Area. If you are known for keeping your word it will say honorable, if you are known for visiting whore houses it will say whoremonger. There can be any number of things listed there and once they are there they are almost impossible to get them removed so beware how you act.”

He nodded slowly as he put his finger on House Stark and much like the last with the NPC scroll it changed to show a similar ‘Bio’ page, just this time for House Stark rather than a character, with the arrow to go back and everything.

**[House Stark]**

The was a large representation of their sigil with it’s large direwolf. The sigil made him think about his new one and it’s three dragons. Shaking his head he looked back at the Stark sigil he would deal with his own sigil in time.

**Words: Winter is coming**

**Living Members:**

**Eddard Stark (lord)**

**Catelyn Stark (lady)**

**Robb Stark (Heir)**

**Sansa Stark**

**Arya Stark**

**Bran Stark**

**Rickon Stark**

**Benjen Stark (Disavowed family for Night’s Watch)**

That list drew him up short as both he was absent and he had never thought that Uncle Benjen had really distanced himself from the family let alone disavowed himself from House Stark. Yeah he knew the basics of the vow to the Night's Watch but he had never really thought about what it would mean to him before and now…

It went on to give a detailed history of the house up to and including that King Robert was coming North to offer Lord Eddard the position of Hand of the King.

“Is it going to add new things as time goes on?”

“Yes. Both in new things that happen to each House in the Bio section, it will also manage the adding or removing of names in the Member section, as well as if you find something out that is house history that you are not aware of at this point. You will notice one important thing listed in the history. It never said anything about the common myth about there being a dragon under Winterfell despite mentioning that a Dragon did visit all those years ago, this is because a Dragon did visit, but there is no Dragon under Winterfell. Only facts will ever be recorded in this section, there is a different area for legends.”

He shot the thing a look, “What do you mean removed?”

It just shrugged, “People die, young girls grow up and get married. It is the story of life, boy.”

“Why would getting married remove a girl from her family?”

“They might still be close to their family. Lady Catelyn is a fine example, but in the end she is a Stark now not a Tully as all of her children are Starks. Just like you and your mother are Targaryens not Starks.”

* * *

It was time for him to fulfill his final vow. He had felt it, the call that seemed to echo in his head, days ago when he had been traveling through the Weirwood trees. It was like a gentle almost ethereal voice that wrapped and swirled around his very being. He would have to retrieve it from its hiding spot soon, for its new wielder would be coming. Blowing out a sigh he felt his knees protest as he stooped under a branch from a Weirwood younger than himself. Maybe this wielder would give as much for the realm as the last wielder of the curse still was. He shook his head before slowly making his way to the keeper's grove, it was time to look to the future not the past. It was time for new people to step up. Younger people as he was just far too old for this anymore, and the secrets he carried only made him feel those years all the more. It would soon be time for him to rest his weary bones, after he completed this one last task the Gods had given him.

* * *

Looking at all of the scrolls that had been explained to him so far after finishing up with the Faction Scroll, he found himself frowning at what the thing had just said about family. However he picked up on something the Thing had said just a few moments before, “So all of these scrolls can tell me anything I know. Things about people, houses, and history and all of it is true?”

“Yes.”

“How does that help me though? I mean I can look up things when I dream but that’s not really useful, at least not as useful as you seem to think it is as I will only know what I want to look up well after I need to know.”

The thing cackled for a second before it tapered off, “No that would not be useful for you if that were true. Especially as this night is probably the last time you will ever enter the pendant in your dreams. No from now on any time you are not in immediate danger you may grab your pendant and you will come here. When you do, time will stop until you return and you can pursue what you know at your leisure.”

He spun around and stared at the thing, “You mean I can come here for as long as I want whenever I want and nothing will change from before I come here?”

The thing slowly nodded, “For the most part. As I said you can not come here when there is any form of direct danger to you around or present. Also while you can stay here for a long time as you will not need sleep, food or a chamber pot while here, I do not know how long you can stay here. I might know more about how the pendant works than anyone else but even I have no idea about how long you can stay here without being forced to leave. The only time we will know if there is a limit to the length of your stays is if you are kicked from here at some point in the future.”

He slowly nodded, this opened far fewer possibilities for him and what he could accomplish, if he could look things up whenever he wanted helping make decisions would be easy. He knew then that first thing in the morning if as he believed this truly was real he would freeze time and look at everything he could about his family he did not look at when going through the NPC section. For now though it was time to finish this, he shot a look at the last three rolled up scrolls labeled  **[Quests]** ,  **[Missions]** , and  **[Followers]** .

It was time to figure out what those meant, he was sick of the thing talking about how he could get things from Quests and Missions but not explaining what they were. SO he started to reach out for the Scroll labeled  **[Quests]** . His hopes however were dashed when the thing spoke, “Next we will cover  **[Followers]** controls. If you pull up the scroll you will see there are currently three scrolls  **[Party] [Armies] [Household]** they are all important but one is vastly more so in the  _ immediate _ future. Your  **[Party]** is up to seven other followers that are willing to work for or follow you on your adventure for one reason or another. Some people are eligible to be temporary followers and others are available as permanent followers. An example is your cousin Robb. He can be a follower but only in the immediate area around Winterfell and as long as he is the one making the decisions. The same goes for the lad Theon, or your cousin Sansa if you can manage to get them as followers for any amount of time while in Winterfell. You also might encounter some people that wish you to bring them somewhere safely, they will become followers temporarily and will leave when you get them to their destination. You will find Followers that will start permanent and they will stay with you until you send them away. You will also find others that can become permanent followers either through time, or quests and missions pertaining to that individual.“

He had pulled up the correct scroll during the talk and he saw the spaces for seven followers, it looked like each follower would get some basic information displayed there on the scroll rather than having to go to the NPC Scroll to look it up. He went to touch one of the empty spaces to see if he could get a closer look at what would be displayed in more focus so he could read it, as right now he could not read anything on the scroll. Instead it changed to something he did not expect.

**NO Party Member currently assigned this slot current, eligible Party Members to recruit**

**Robb Stark (Temporary)**

**Arya Stark (Temporary)**

“Were you expecting more to be available? Well not yet boy each person has requirements to be a follower they won't follow you around because you want them to. Enough of that however, go back to the  **[Army]** scroll.”

He frowned but complied with the Thing's orders.

“Good. Now as you can see the setup despite it being empty, if the situation should ever present itself that you were leading men this is where their information would be easily displayed. It will give you exact counts of the kinds of soldiers, where they are from, who they are affiliated with, their skill and armaments overall, as well as their loyalty and morale. I know you currently can not see any of this as you have no units at your command but that is how this scroll is presented.”

He knew just with that he would have a major advantage over anyone if he ever went to war. How many times in history had one side lost because someone turned coat and betrayed them? Well he would know the truth with that scroll.

As fast as that thought came he pushed it away. The kingdoms were at peace, there was no need to think about war, and he had even less reason to think of it. Had not the realm bleed enough due to his father's and grandfather's actions? 

He nodded slowly as the Thing finished talking about the little details about how the breakdown of the armies he could control would be displayed before the Things moved into the  **[Household]** scroll. The  **[Household]** scroll was basically the same thing as the  **[Army]** scroll but with people that swore themselves to him rather than armies were listed and he could assign them jobs based on their skills. It was interesting but there was something about the way the thing had described these last two scrolls that put him on edge. He couldn’t put his finger on it but he assumed that it was because he never saw himself commanding armies or running a household before he had received the pendant and now he could. Add to that the Thing seemed to almost expect he would make it feel like it was destined and he did not like that...

* * *

Daenerys knew she was dreaming, and yet it felt so real. She could feel the wind pushing at her as she looked down upon the world. She could make out the Wall cutting off the top of Westeros, the monstrous Bone Mountains jutting up and cutting Essos in half, and the still burning and smoking ruins of her ancestors home Valyria.

Her eyes however were drawn to the western coast of Essos, more importantly the two Dragons perched there. She might not know her maps perfectly but she was sure enough and she knew that the dragons were perched directly on Pentos. Both dragons were crimson red with sharp black horns and spikes covering their bodies. One dragon was huge while the other dragon was much smaller almost sickly looking, and as time passed the smaller one started to shrivel in on itself before it completely disappeared while the larger one grew and grew eventually taking flight and flew around Essos before finally landing in Slaver Bay. Where the dragon was huge enough to take up almost all of the bay.

Then a twisted misshaped black dragon with dark blue horns rose from the ground in Pentos where it was then plated in sheets of gold before it took flight aiming for Westeros.

It had barely touched it's claw to the ground before a massive Dragon seemed to just appear over Westeros biting the black dragon’s neck and dashing the Black Dragon against the rocks of the Stormlands. Before the Black Dragon could rise it was gored by the antlers of a Stag as a massive wolf tore off one of it's malformed wings. It was when a large pole was jabbed in the trashing monster's eye that she jolted awake.

She could feel the sweat pouring down her neck, she felt cold and clammy. Taking deep calming breaths she decided as soon as the light of dawn broke over the horizon she would request to see Magister Illyrio, maybe he would know what her dream meant.

* * *

It was finally time for him to get the answers to one of the questions that had been plaguing him since this had started and with the completion of the Followers Scroll he did not have to wait long for the thing to start explaining Quests and Missions, “There is one simple set of differences between Quests and Missions that you will need to understand before we proceed. Quests are tasks that have a time limit of some sorts, even if it is years there is a limit on how long you can take to complete them. Quests are also given to you by people you interact with, in a manner of speaking at least. Missions however, do not have a time limit and are given to you for lack of a better way of explaining by the pendant you wear do you understand?”

He nodded at the Thing, so far nothing seemed overly complicated and could understand what the Thing meant at least. Maybe not the part about the pendant or people as well as he would like, but the basics as well as the concept of a time limit that he understood. As soon as he nodded his head, the Thing told him to push on the Quest scroll.

“The  **[Quest]** scroll when you open it is divided into two sets of scrolls one for each of the different kinds of quests;  **[NPC Given]** and  **[Daily]** .  **[NPC Given]** are quests that you receive from people to perform certain tasks. You will know if you have received a quest as your pendant will vibrate against your skin. On top of gaining experience for completing quests there will always be a reward of some kind for any quest you receive and you can usually see that here. Usually part of the reward will be a mystery or there will be a bonus reward if you do things a specific way and that will be hidden until you complete the quest but there will always be a reward.”

He nodded, “So I receive quests from talking to people then?”

“Not all quests. There are exceptions to everything, some quests you will receive for seeing something happen or even just for being around when it happens. Then there are  **[Daily]** quests as well, and they are different. Pull up the  **[Daily]** scroll, and I will explain.”

He did so and before the thing started talking he noted something important.

**[Daily]**

**Location: Winterfell {Home}**

**Permanent Followers: N/A**

**Lands Owned: N/A**

That was interesting, “As you can see there are three things that can cause the creation of Daily quests. There will be a list every morning that you can check, the list of  **[Daily]** quests for you to complete will change based on changes in the above listed information. You will see upon waking what I mean. These unlike the  **[NPC Given]** quests do not give you a reward for doing them you only get a reward if you complete all of the quests. If you however decided not to do any of the quests named you will instead receive a penalty of some sort. So it is advisable to at least do one or two tasks even if you don’t want to spend the time completing everything listed to get the reward for doing all of the parts of the  **[Daily]** quests.”

He nodded slowly. This section was rather easy to understand at least in comparison to some of the other sections that they had covered, “So these  **[Daily]** quests are like chores then?”

The Thing smirked at him, “That is an apt way of phrasing it, though a bit understating of their importance I assure you.”

That would be simple enough he figured, it might raise some eyebrows if he started doing servants' work but he could come up with something to say if Lord or Lady Stark asked. Maybe something about learning how to do these things for himself so he could travel south…

Well he would have to work on a good reason that made sense before he did anything that drew too much attention to him, and with how Lord and Lady Stark had been watching him the last few days that might actually be a bit difficult. However there would be time for that in the morning, now it was time for him to switch tasks as he touched the  **[Mission]** scroll.

“Missions are not like quests as you can see there are more than a few present here for you to choose if you accept already. You will also acquire more over time some you will gain as you complete those you already have, others from traveling to different places, meeting new people, discussing things with people close to you, and growing stronger.”

He barely heard what the thing was saying as he stared at the first mission already listed on the scroll.

**[Mission]**

**_Walking with Ghosts (Mother)_ **

**-Visit Her grave in the Crypt**

**-Visit The Isle of Faces**

**-Visit the Ruins of the Tower of Joy**

**Reward: +300 experience, +5 Riding, ????, ????**

**Accept {Yes/No}**

He stared for a moment at the words on the scroll as the words struck him as if a physical blow. It had been days since he had heard the truth. Days since he had found out about his Mother and yet even knowing who she was and that she was buried in the Crypts the idea of going there to see her tomb had never crossed his mind.

A part of that was likely how he had never felt like he belonged in the Crypt of Winterfell, and now well his fears as a child sort of made sense. However, first thing after checking to see if he could really stop time by grabbing his pendant he was going to go down to the Crypt to see his mother's grave.

As for The Isle of Faces, well it was an important place for those that followed the Old Gods, but he knew not what it was doing on the list. Lord Stark had not mentioned it one way or another as such he could only wonder when his mother had been there and why.

It was only after his mind was made up that he realized that the rest of the mission would bring him all the way to Dorne, and yet a part of him wanted to go. Lord Stark had banned him from going North to the Wall, and now that he knew the truth he wanted to stay living out his days in Winterfell even less than before. Going South though had so many things he could do, and well he would have to think on it as he had never envisioned it as a possibility. 

He had learned enough about how things worked with the scrolls that he touched the  **{Yes}** without the Thing having to prompt him. The Thing had said that missions had no time limit and he would visit these places before he died he promised himself that.

**_Walking with Ghosts (Father)_ **

**-Visit Harrenhal**

**-Visit Ruby Ford**

**-Visit Summerhall**

**Reward: +300 Experience, +5 Riding, ????, ????**

**Accept {Yes/No}**

There was a part of him that thought these choices were very fitting for his father. The remains of an ancient castle that his ancestors destroyed. The place where his father as well as thousands of men died in what he now knew to be a mostly pointless war. The place where his ancestors burned themselves to ash to try and bring dragons back to the world. A list of death for the foolish prince that did nothing but bring death to the realm in what he was sure was his father's arrogance.

Yet... and yet he wanted to know of his father as well. He wanted to find out what he was like, how could the Prince that so many thought so well of before the Rebellion feel that what he was doing was right. He wanted to know why his father had left his wife and children with the Mad King. He wanted to know if his father had even tried to protect his children or siblings from the war he had caused.

Tentatively he reached to the scroll and hit  **{Yes}** .

**_Find your Family_ **

**-Find one of your Targaryen kin**

**Reward: +250 Experience, +1 Wisdom, ????**

**Accept {Yes/No}**

That hit hard as well. There were Targaryens that still lived? He knew that his aunt and uncle had escaped off Dragonstone, but that was all he knew and he didn't think that two children could survive long without aid. So who had been helping them, and how had they avoided being found by The King.

Were they the only ones as well? Were there others that survived? What did it mean by kin? Were there others that his father had taken that no wars were fought over? Did the Mad King have Bastards like his forefather the Unworthy did?

He would have to check the pendant tomorrow he decided as he reached out and hit  **{Yes}** .

**_Avenge your Siblings_ **

**-Find out who killed Rhaenys**

**-Find out who killed Aegon and Elia Martell**

**-Find out who ordered the Death of Aegon and Rhaenys**

**-Find out who ordered the death of Elia Martell**

**-Kill ?????**

**-Kill ?????**

**-Destroy?????**

**-Destroy ?????**

**Reward: +800 Experience, +60 Reputation with House Martell, -30 Reputation with House Lannister and House Baratheon, ????, ????, ????**

**Accept {Yes/No}**

Well there went that momentary hope that his half siblings might still be alive out there somewhere. He had hoped, with the stories he had heard of Dorne and Bastards that maybe having a Dornish Mother they might have... He shook his head to clear it of the wave of sadness and anger at the Pendant for making him think that this sibling might have lived... 

This mission though... He had heard from Lord Stark how the entire reason he was hidden as a bastard was because of the death or Aegon and Rhaenys and how their butchered bodies were presented by Lord Tywin to King Robert and when Lord Stark had called it dishonorable The King had said that they were just 'dragonspawn'. Lord Stark however had not said anything about who had killed them and he couldn't help but wonder if Lord Stark had purposefully left it out or if he did not know. Either way he would have to find out. All it took was reading this mission and he knew that he would have to complete it, even if he picked  **{No}** he would have to do this before he died. There was a suffocating feeling of how he would feel or anger at what could have been.

It was only as he went to hit  **{yes}** that he hesitated as he noticed something. Aegon and Rhaenys were grouped together for being ordered to be killed while Elia Martell was separate from them, yet when it came to killing it was Rhaenys who was separated from Aegon and Elia. Did that mean that it was someone else that ordered Elia's death not the same person as who ordered the death of his siblings? If Rhaenys was killed separately from Aegon and Elia did that mean someone killed a little girl by herself, Rhaenys could only have been what four years of age if his history was correct, that would make her about the same age as Rickon.

It took him a moment to gather himself before he could bring himself to touch the scroll.

**_Settling their Differences_ **

**-Find a way to get the fighting between your cousins Arya and Sansa to stop while they work together as sisters.**

**Reward: +250 Experience, +20 Reputation with House Stark, ????, ????**

**** This was much easier to deal with. He might not know how he could make it work but he could at least try, and it didn't bring the swirl of sad and painful feeling that the other missions had when he read them.

He simply reached out and touched the  **{Yes}** , and then everything around him faded away into darkness.

* * *

Estor Cray slowly made his way along the marsh trail through the worst of the Neck, intent on getting to his destination. His father had not been as supportive as he wished when he had approached his father, but his father was a believer in the Old Gods and their powers like all those that lived in the Neck, and had provisioned him enough to make it to his destination, Winterfell.

He had dreams the last few nights of a great white direwolf traveling south through the marshes and he knew he had to travel to meet it as after the wolf managed to leave the Neck the wolf always seemed to go in different directions as if it did not know where it wished to go. He had been raised on stories of Greenseers as all families in the Neck were and he knew his dream meant something important, and his father agreed though he did not see the point in sending even his third born son to assist a bastard. Even if the bastard was Lord Stark's son. So here he was rushing off to meet his destiny that he saw in a dream and it was only after he left the safe warmth of his home without any guards that he realized, he wished he knew what he was doing.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I figure I should start with this. I used to have a fanfiction.net account where I had a few stories... Then you know how life is and I just get away from writing. So I had not updated anything in the last few years, and I seemed to have reached a point in my life were I want to start writing again I took them down. I am working on fixing and polishing them up and will then be posting and continuing the stories. 2 Harry potter stories, 1 Code Geass, and 1 A song of fire and ice if anyone is interested in Betaing them.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I figure I should start with this. I used to have a fanfiction.net account where I had a few stories... Then you know how life is and I just get away from writing. So I had not updated anything in the last few years, and I seemed to have reached a point in my life were I want to start writing again I took them down. I am working on fixing and polishing them up and will then be posting and continuing the stories. 2 Harry potter stories, 1 Code Geass, and 1 A song of fire and ice if anyone is interested in Betaing them.


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